“It’s nothing on the Cardinals. They play within what the system is,” Flaherty said. “Their process is great and it makes sense, but in the grand scheme of things the system itself that everybody plays under just isn’t — it’s not a great system for everybody.

“The system as a whole is not great.”

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Players with less than three years of service time are not eligible for arbitration and have no leverage unless they explore multi-year deals. Jose Martinez did that earlier this spring and signed a two-year contract.

The renewal means Hicks and Flaherty did not agree to their value, and did not sign contracts.

The Cardinals had gone more than a decade without renewing a player until last spring when they imposed a salary on outfielder Tommy Pham.